My new community site for textile folks

Waving to everyone in very excited manner this morning! For l those with very sharp eyes. Last night a little bit of text appeared in my side bar which reads “Visit stitchin fingers a new community site for stitchers.” Well for anyone who noticed great work!

I have finally got around to doing something I have meant to do for ages and that is create a stitchin/textile community site over on Ning.

For a long time I felt that the community needs a hub that can act a depot to spread news of events etc. Ning is a social software site that helps people build communities. I think may provide the service the textile folks need. Ning looks to be good place to make announcements, share news and photos hang out online etc.

I have called the network Stitchin Fingers So far I have put a forum on there, and since Ning has an RSS feed so you can subscribe and new activity will appear in your reader. It is an ideal place to act as a hub for all sorts of news and activities that the whole community can make use of. So all are welcome to use it and be as active as you choose on the site.

It is free and looks like members can have up to 100 photos. Members can load their own photos, create albums, share them etc. This feature alone would have made it ideal for any of the challenges I have run. It means people who don’t have to have a blog can join in on activities and for those that do have blogs they tell us about them there! But its more than simply that. As I say its a community site - or I see it as that and I will keeping pure self promotion at bay . People can use it to spread the word about textile related events but I don’t see it as an avenue for business to peddle their wares.

Last night I spent far too long trying to decide on a theme and I will organise some sort of image in the banner. I don’t want to spend an age designing something only to find not one is interested. Basically I will polish it the more people join and use it.

Since its free you have nothing to lose head over to Stitchin Fingers, sign up, join and leave a hello message and we can see what develops from there. Bloggers and those on lists please help spread the word because it will not work if people don’t know about it. This is a community site so lets hope it builds!

I have described it as “The group is open to all who are interested in textiles both contemporary and historical. Since many textile practices cross or inform each other all areas are welcome “
Actually I will reshape the description when figure out how to describe the group as I am sure it will shape itself!

If you are not sure what a Ning site is take a look at the fiberarts mixed media group as you can see it is for anyone who is interested in contemporary fiber arts and its a good example of what a group site can look like

This is what prompted me to finally get this network site going as Tricia of Lets Create contacted me as she is establishing a group for people who are interested in challenges. Go and check out her blog here This is the sort of news that is ideal to spread on the Stitchin Fingers site.

On another note I thought I would bring this link to Designer Bookbinders to the top as kimsarahtillyer left a comment point me to it. Designer Bookbinders was founded over fifty years ago and is a society devoted to the craft of fine bookbinding. There is some delicious eye candy in their gallery so do go and gobble some up (after you have checked out Stitchin Fingers that is)

 

Rediscovering rug making

Oh Dear I have been digging around looking at hooked and hand made rugs and I can feel an interest coming on.

Why am I digging around in the rug hooking sites? Ever since Jerry has built me a new bead storage system, one thing leads to another and sewing room is having a bit of reshuffle. I still have these baskets of yarn and with my new addiction to free form crochet I have managed to accumulate more wool!. I have completed this scrumbled thing but free form crochet items alone is not going to use up the more plain wool. (I discovered that texture is the key with scrumbles but that is another ramble)

I found my rug hooks in my clean out. One is a standard rug hook the other is latch hook. I think it must be 25 - 30 years since I have used them! Once again one thing has lead to another and I decided to poke about and see what was happening to contemporary rug hooking. I know that often rugs are made from strips of fabric but you can use yarns too.

Since I had the basic tools of rug making I toddled over to see Deanne Fitzpatrick’s work. Any textile technique that treats yarn like a graphic medium intrigues me and sure enough her gallery pages had me thinking. After looking at her pattern page I realised that this is really an excuse to at least get out the pencils and paints and do some drawing in my visual journal . If nothing else that’s fun.

If the primitive style is not your taste take a look at the contemporary rugs of English textile artist Lucy Mason on her site Prodigal Rugs. The site also hosts a small article on the history of making rag rugs.

If you are interested in the history of hand made rugs the Canadian Museum of Civilization has an exhibit of hand made rugs which covers the history, cultural influences and designs found on hand made rugs.

Rug Hooking online is an ezine well worth browsing if you are interested in rug hooking. What it is, how to do it, tips from the experts, dyeing for rug hooking, adapting designs, articles, a gallery, and patterns to tempt you to try the craft. Hooked is another ezine which covers hand hooking.

Rag rugs too have been on my screen lately. In my hippy days I used to make braided rugs from recycled clothing. I once made a floor rug with a 12 ft diameter which the goat eventually got to. Apart from the goats efforts it was an extremely hard wearing rug.

Rug making has a long history and traditional rugs have been made using a huge variety of techniques and materials. This Rag Rugs Tour gives you an indication of the variety.

Now you can see why I feel another interest coming on but I am going to resist as really I just want to use up some plain everyday yarn!

 

Rugmaker’s Homestead traditional “rag” rugs

Rugmaker’s Homestead traditional “rag” rugs contains heaps of information on making of traditional rag rugs. Firstly there is a selection of brief and practical articles such as Diana Blake Gray’s article Crocheted Rag Rug Patterns: How they work…and why some don’t. Also the site houses information on making and identifying different types rag rugs such as tambour rag rugs, shirred rag rugs, standing wool rugs, knitted rugs, flat wrap and twisted cords rag rugs, “Amish Knot” or “Navajo Knot” rugs, Pjonging, chain braid rugs, broomstick rugs, string crochet and crocheted rag rugs (seeing this type was a trip down memory lane for me). Also the site covers Fabric Tapestry rugs, and anchored loop rugs which I incorrectly thought were a type of Australian rag rug. Other rugs hooked, punched, poked, prodded, bodkin and shuttle rag rugs, are also to be found. Needleworked rag rugs which take a long time to work - don’t ask me how I know - are also listed and then there are toothbrush rugs briaded rugs such as Bohemian braid, Swedish braid and Nalbinding. There is also Knotted Shag rag rugs, loom woven rugs, and heading into the realm of patchwork, Patched “Penny” rugs.

I made a braided rag rug in the 70s (yes I am an old hippie) and it wore like iron. In fact I am sure it would still be going today except that the goat got to it while it was being aired on the porch rail!

 

Penny Rugs

Serena Fenton over on Layers of Meaning has written a very interesting piece on Penny Rugs examining what they are how they are made and placed the lot in historical context. Just thought I would point to it in case anyone misses it.

 

Reed stitch

I have just turned up a technical article on Reed stitch used in rugmaking. I have posted it here as I know there are many rug makers out there who might find it of interest.

 

Contemporary textile artist Deanne Fitzpatrick

Deanne Fitzpatrick creates hooked rugs from recycled wool cloth that has been cut into strips.

Rug hooking like many domestic textile crafts comes from a tradition of poverty. Although Deannes’s mother and grandmother both created rugs driven by financial need, Deanne is driven to make rugs by different need. That of expressing the stories and ideas that are important to her in her life and the community in which she resides.

Growing up in Freshwater, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland her work reflects the community values she was exposed to. Those elements being simplicity and tradition. Part of that tradition is story telling. Before selecting key elements within a tale to represent the narrative Deanne Fitzpatrick gathers her stories from people in community and uses a journal to capture them. Deanne also keeps a Rug Hooking Diary online

Illustrated here is one of Deanne Fitzpatrick’s pieces on her site ‘The Salt Water Dance’. Deanne Fitzpatrick’s site houses information on designing, planning and making hooked rugs. Much of her ideas about designing and choosing imagery is of wider interest. Check out her gallery area I think her imagery will at least make you smile in thoughtful recognition.